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Brandon Graham Staying with the Eagles on One-Year Deal

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Author Anthony Gargano Show Author and Dylan MacKinnon
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 30: Brandon Graham #55 of the Philadelphia Eagles looks on and smiles after a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Lincoln Financial Field on October 30, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

While Darius Slay may be leaving, along with a lot of the Eagles’ free agents, one popular Eagles player is confirmed to be returning. Brandon Graham and the Eagles agreed to a one-year deal, that could be worth up to $6 million, per Tim McManus.  Brandon Graham is coming off of a career year. He racked up a career-best 11 sacks, despite playing fewer snaps than ever. He helped the Eagles get back to the 2nd Super Bowl in his time on the team.

Graham is the longest-tenured member of the Eagles. He was drafted by the Eagles back in 2010. He did not start off as popular as he is now. For years Eagles fans were upset the team drafted him over Safety Earl Thomas. But sometime between then, and getting a strip sack to help seal the Super Bowl win, Brandon Graham became one of the most popular Eagles in the city. He has played 178 games for the Eagles. The current franchise leader in games played is David Akers with 188. So as long as Graham stays healthy, he could finish next season as the franchise’s All-Time leader in games played.

H is also currently 4th all times in sacks for the Eagles with 70. He is 6 behind Clyde Simmons, 15.5 behind Trent Cole, and 50 behind Reggie White. So while he could end up 3rd all-time, it will be a bit hard to catch Cole. And impossible to catch White.

Graham told McManus why he decided to stay with the Eagles.

“I definitely don’t want to miss out on this championship that we’re about to make a run for,” Graham told ESPN. 

Now Eagles will focus their attention to trying to work out Jalen Hurt’s extension, deciding what other free agents they can bring back, and figuring out what is going on with Darius Slay. 

[Source: ESPN]

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5 Things to Know About RB Bijan Robinson- Eagles Prospect Profile

Would the Eagles actually consider Bijan Robinson at pick 10? There certainly seems to be a ton of Mock Drafters saying so. And not just random dudes with blogs. Some of the big names in draft coverage are connecting the Eagles to Bijan Robinson. Both Dane Brugler from The Athletic and Todd McShay from ESPN selected Bijan for the Eagles at 10.  

Miles Sanders is going to leave in free agency. So RB is a need, even if the Eagles are confident in Kenny Gainwell stepping into a larger role. But big enough of a need for them to break tradition and modern NFL thought and spend a top-10 pick on an RB? Probably not.  

Especially considering the long grocery list of other needs the Eagles have. Adam Schefter’s reporting on The John Kincade Show suggests the Eagles could be losing nearly all their big-name free agents. The Eagles’ defense will need a massive overhaul, and much of that will have to come in the draft. A great RB would be a luxury. But when you are already budgeting to make sure you get all the essentials like bread and eggs at the grocery store, it is not necessarily wise to also buy a prime rib.  

But enough people are connecting the Texas RB and the Eagles, that he is at least worth looking at. And man is this guy fun to watch. Is Bijan Robinson really the game-breaking RB so many think he will be in the NFL? Good enough to be worth using a top-10 pick on? Or are these supposed draft experts just making a pick that there is no chance of actually happening? Since his name keeps coming up, let’s get to know him better.  

Here are 5 things you should know about Texas RB Bijan Robinson.  

  • Yes, He Is As Good As They Say

    One thing they are not exaggerating is how good this guy is. Robinson does pretty much everything you would want an RB to do. Want an RB who can run over people and get short yardage? Well, Bijan broke 91 tackles last season. Not 91 tackles in his career at Texas. 91 tackles in one season. Derick Henry led the NFL with 35 this season. That is the level we are dealing with. You do not want to be a defender in his path.

    But he is not just a bruiser. Because as his combine showed, he is also fast. Robinson was 6th among RBs with a 40-yard dash of 4.46, and 3rd in the 10-yard split with 1.52 seconds. He can run, he can juke,  and he is as explosive as he his strong. All that explains why he had 1,580 rushing yards, and 20 total TDs. He is going to be a monster in the NFL. Between running people over, and juking people out, opposing defenders had a missed tackle rate of 39% against him.  

    Not to mention he can also catch passes and block.

  • Elite RBs Don't Always Translate to Wins

    It is a lot of fun watching a great RB. Seeing them bowl people over and rack up huge numbers. But does that translate to wins? Recent history says no. You would have to go back to 2016 to find the last time a team won a Super Bowl with a 1000-yard rusher. That was the Patriots. And by the way, their 1000-yard RB was LeGarrette Blount, who they were paying less than $1 million per year. You have to go back much further to find a team that won with an RB they invested any significant resources in.  

    Of the top 5 rushing yard leaders, the top 3 all missed the playoffs. And the Eagles were probably the best running team in the league, yet they spent just 2.8 million total on the position. And draft-wise, all they invested in their 3 RBs was a 2nd and 5th-round pick.  

    Think of the greatest RBs of the past couple of decades. How many won anything? Adrian Peterson was a monster in Minnesota. He won 1 playoff game in his time there and only made it 4 times. LaDainian Tomlinson won just two playoff games in his time in San Diego. Chris Johnson, Frank Gore, Shaun Alexander, Derick Henry. All guys with Hall of Fame cases, and none of their teams won anything real.  

    RBs are not useless. Having capable guys is certainly a benefit. But the general idea is you can get away with RBs that are merely good. That goes double when you have a run-blocking O-line as good as the Eagles do. The same can be said about the Chiefs. The Chiefs invested a first-round pick in an RB a few years back, but that never really translated in their run game taking a huge leap, and now the guy they drafted may be out with the Chiefs. But once they invested heavily in the O-Line, they turned into a very good running team with a 7th-round pick leading the way at RB. 

  • Big Praise From Another Top Prospect in the Draft

    Alabama’s Will Anderson is pretty good. In fact, he is probably the best non-QB in the draft, with only Jalen Carter as competition for the title. He’s so good, there is pretty much no chance he falls to the Eagles. Well, he had some pretty significant praise for Bijan Robinson. Reporters asked him who the toughest guy he has ever faced was. And he did not mince words. He chose Bijan Robinson. 

    “He’s a big back. We had to gang-tackle him, get all hats to the ball. He was going to break a few tackles. We had to tackle the right way. He’s probably the toughest person I faced in college football.” 

  • "Better Person Than He is a Player"

    No one can doubt what a great player Robinson is. What you may not know though, is that he also is a really good person, at least according to his coach and teammates. Steve Sarkisian gushed more about Robinson the human being, than he did about Robinson the Football player. Here is what he said back in a Press Conference on October 17th.  

    “For being as good of a player that he is, I really think it’s the person that makes him different. He’s an unbelievable human being. I always say he’s a better person than he is a player. But he doesn’t leave that person in the locker room. He brings him onto the field with him. He’s not a selfish person at all. He’s selfless and and it’s not about Bijan. It’s not about how many carries, it’s not about how many touchdowns. It’s about the team. He cares so much for his teammates that, ultimately, I think his teammates play for him too.” 

     

  • Eagles not a Fan Of Investing Heavily in RBs

    The last time the Eagles drafted an RB in the first round was Keith Byars in 1986. They haven’t handed out a big contract to an RB since Demarco Murray in 2015. And they shipped that contract out 1-year later. Before him they also paid LeSean Mccoy. But other than those two, one of which undoubtedly worked out very poorly for the Eagles, the Eagles just don’t have a history of paying their RBS. Even with Brian Westbrook, the most they ever gave him was 5 million per year.  

    And to be fair, they have good reason to be wary of that. There are not many teams that gave out big contracts to RBs, where it paid off. And not many teams who invested first round picks into Running Backs, saw that turn into postseason success. Chiefs did, but they were 1) already winners, and 2) CEH didn’t actually help them continue to win, they were just good enough to overcome that bad pick.  

    Meanwhile Giants, Cowboys, Panthers, Jaguars, Rams, Chargers, Patriots, Seahawks, and Raiders all invested firsts in a RB since 2018. What returns have any of those teams received from those picks? There is pretty much no recent examples of teams investing high picks in RBs and it panning out well for them. They get great players sure. But as already discussed, great RBs don’t translate to wins.

    Taking RBS on day 2 is a different story. We have seen that turn into success. Having a cheap RB, that is that good, can be incredibly successful. And if some team manages to snag Bijan with a 2nd round pick, that could work out well for them, at least for 4 years while he is on a rookie deal.

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